I’ve been out of the blogging game for a little while, it’s true. But now, I’m back (sort of)! My next post will explain why. In the meantime, check out this guest post I wrote for Jessica Olin’s Letters to a Young Librarian, a blog I’ve loved since its inception. The post was also picked up by American Libraries Direct!

GS-1410-09. That is the federal government’s way of saying I’m an employed librarian! I’m no longer a future info pro, but a current one (blog subtitle change time)!

I have had an amazing journey through Libraryland thus far. Here is my pre-library school story. I began at UA SLIS in January 2009, working part-time at the university writing center and taking classes part time. I was thrown head-first into one of the most challenging, most feared classes at UA SLIS – Information Sources and Services (Reference) with Dr. Margaret Dalton. I wrote 35-50+ pages for every assignment in that class. When I made an A, I was proud of my blood, sweat, and tears, and also realized that I loved reference and research. I loved helping people and finding answers. I decided reference would be my niche.

After my first semester, I made one of my lifelong dreams come true by spending the summer with the U of Southern Miss British Studies Program. Not only did I get to stay in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Paris, I visited some of the most amazing libraries and archives in existence. I cemented my passion for both librarianship and travel that summer, and made some fantastic friends.

That fall, I received a year-long graduate assistantship, and also landed a job working 2 nights a week (overnight) at the campus science and engineering library. Overnight, you say? Midnight to 7:45 am, indeed. I worked both jobs for two straight semesters, and took classes full time. In the meantime, I was elected to the Student Advisory Committee, practically lived on campus, and formed a close bond with many of my fellow SLISers.

In the spring, in addition to all of the above, I worked on an amazing independent study project that turned into one of my summer jobs, co-presented two posters at a local conference, and took a Special Libraries course that completely opened my mind to new job possibilities. My SL professor, a retired federal librarian who is one of my many fantastic mentors, encouraged me to pursue the internship that led to my new position.

While I waited for the internship to become available (it was advertised in May and didn’t interview until August – welcome to the government!), I began the summer of 3 jobs, 2 conferences. I also started this oft-neglected blog, not knowing how my library student journey would turn out, but hoping for the best. In spite of the neglect, these posts helped connect me to my fellow librarians and library school students on Twitter, and I discovered the power of social networking in libraryland.

You know of my truly amazing co-editing/writing gig with Hack Library School, which began in January. That deserves its own update post sometime soon. Words cannot express how honored I am to collaborate with these enthusiastic, brilliant emerging professionals on a daily basis.

Also in January, I began full-time work at the internship, and loved every minute of it. One of the best things about the SCEP program is that if your employer likes you, they can hire you immediately after your graduation. My supervisor told me a couple of months in that they were interested in hiring me permanently, and I was beyond thrilled. I knew that nothing was official until it was official, especially considering that there could be a hiring freeze, but I was cautiously optimistic.

I finally graduated in May, after 2.5 years in grad school. Everything looked good. My bosses were trying to get the paperwork rolling, but I still needed an official, degreed transcript. So we waited. Then — and this is the part you last heard about on Twitter — Air Force hiring freeze. Technically, it was a 1:4 hiring control, but it looked as though my hiring was cancelled — two weeks prior to receiving my transcript. Needless to say, I was devastated. I started applying for other jobs, and knew that everything would be okay, but I was still sad about what could’ve been. In the meantime, the library director promised to do what he could, and my bosses said that while they still had a little hope and didn’t want me to leave, they understood that I had to apply for other positions.

So what changed, you ask? We don’t know! (welcome to the government, part 2) About a month after the bad news, word came from HR that I could be hired. I wanted to believe it was true, but I waited cautiously for yet another month and barely spoke of it to anyone until I knew it was official. So if this is the first you’re hearing of this, please don’t be offended… I just didn’t want to do the “yes I got it oh wait no I didn’t” update yet again.

But now… it’s official, and I am the happiest, most grateful I have ever been. I get to start out in a profession I love, at a job and workplace I already know and love.

tl;dr I apologize for the ridiculously long post. It’s been a crazy ride, and I wanted to relive it. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has enriched my libraryland life along the way! This is only the beginning of my involvement in the profession, and I’m so excited about that.

I want all current library school students, and all unemployed and underemployed librarians to know that you WILL GET A JOB. You may have to work crap student jobs or crap retail jobs and make $10,000 a year and volunteer all at the same time, and you may not even end up in a library (this isn’t a bad thing – talk to me about special library jobs!), but if you keep working at it and do not give up, you will utilize your MLIS degree and be an awesome librarian/info pro. I believe in you. This profession needs passionate people, and you’re going to #makeithappen.

On that note… no matter who you are or what stage of the libraryland journey you’re in, you can contact me any time and ask me anything. I have had so many unbelievable mentors that I am ready to pay it all forward!

I wish I were updating this blog under better circumstances. It has truly been a great semester until now.

On Wednesday, April 27, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama was struck by an EF-5 tornado. Much of the city is demolished. The university where I have finished my MLIS, University of Alabama, was spared, but classes and exams have been cancelled, and graduation ceremony postponed until August. As far as I can tell, everyone I know is safe, but I have many friends, as well as SLIS faculty members, who have lost their apartments or houses. The damage is widespread, and there have been many deaths.

Hack Library School, aka #HackLibSchool, is a project started by FSU student Micah Vandegrift. It has evolved from an In the Library with a Lead Pipe Post to a HackLibSchool Wiki, and its latest incarnation is a HackLibSchool blogwhere current library school students come together to have discussions and share insights. I recently joined the blog, and I have to say that my fellow contributors are pretty much amazing. They’re enthusiastic and full of ideas, and they’re incredibly hard workers who genuinely care about fellow lib school students and core issues of the profession.

My first post is essentially an update/summary of my two previous ALA posts on this blog, but I’ll soon be contributing new posts. Please come over and read, and if you think you have something to contribute, please contact one of us! If you don’t want to write, we also accept ideas for posts, so if there’s an LIS issue on your mind, please let us know.

The end of last semester turned out to be a nonstop roller coaster. Things have finally calmed down, and while I’m not sure how many people still read my blog, there are a few amazing people still out there promoting it in blog posts and on and Twitter (Julia Skinner, Micah Vandegrift, Courtney Walters, Melody Dworak — thank you all!), and I definitely feel as though I owe some explanation of my prolonged absence.

I was planning to graduate in December, and even applied for graduation. I started applying for jobs in August, and I even had a phone interview, which was a nice boost for my confidence. However, I also interviewed for a Student Career Experience Program position (SCEP) at Fairchild Research Information Center, aka MSFRIC, aka Air University Library, which is an academic military library on Maxwell Air Force Base. SCEP is an amazing federal program, and at UA SLIS, we tend to think of it as a paid internship – you get professional experience and get paid for it.

Thus, when I was offered a position, I was VERY excited to accept it. It meant delaying my graduation until May 2011, and moving to a different city 2+ hours away from family and friends, but I knew it would be a worthwhile opportunity. So far, it has exceeded my expectations. I work 40 hours a week with wonderful co-workers who have been SO helpful and supportive. My job is a great entry-level position, and I’m learning so much about the new type of library I’m working in. I know I made an excellent choice.

In addition to finals, security clearance forms, sinus infections, and packing and moving to a new city, I also attended the Military Libraries Workshop as a volunteer intern. This was my first time to volunteer at a library conference, and that was also an invaluable experience. I HIGHLY recommend this to library school students! You will never know if you can volunteer at a conference until you ask, and I got my conference fee paid for! The conference planners made certain that my fellow student intern and I got the full behind-the-scenes conference experience. We were included on conference calls, we attended every session (including the final “lessons learned” session with the conference planners), and we were also responsible for handling the social media for the conference. We posted updates on Twitter and Facebook for the Military Libraries Division of SLA, @SLA_DMIL, and interacted with other conference attendees both online and in person. It was a small conference, and I felt as though I made many valuable contacts, especially the wonderful conference planners.

So even as I update you on my current situation, I cannot stress this enough — library school students, you have to seek out every opportunity you can to gain experience and shine! If I had not decided to find a way to attend SLA this summer, I wouldn’t have met a contact who offered to let me volunteer at MLW. I also met my fellow student intern, the lovely Mallory Ruth, at SLA, and we ended up sharing a room at MLW. I never would’ve believed it in my first semester of library school, but I am a officially a convert — networking, whether in person or online, is everything. That is a lesson I have fully gleaned throughout the past two years of my library world.

In spite of my recent blog and Twitter silence, I have been trying to keep up with libraryland; I just haven’t been a full participant. Now that things are calming down, I’m hoping to reconnect with my fellow librarians. I expect to read a lot of Library Day in the Lifeentries this week! Read more about why that is such a great resource for library school students here. I am not sure yet if I’ll be participating again this time since I *just* began my internship position, but I am very excited to hear from others!

Hello, blogosphere. It seems I have neglected you again. I’ve really packed my schedule full this semester – two student jobs, an internship in another city, two classes, my Student SLA duties, extracurricular writing and presenting – it’s been quite exhausting. I like being busy, and this semester I am particularly happy with my choices. I’d like to talk about one great choice in particular: my internship.

LIS programs vary when it comes to internships and practicums; some are required, some are optional. At UA, internships are optional, but we are strongly encouraged to do at least one semester-long, 150-hour internship for pass/fail credit. It doesn’t hurt that we have an amazing internship coordinator who is not afraid to call any library on our behalf – we talk to her about her interests, she names off some choices, and we go from there. The process for my current internship was a little bit different. I used up all 9 hours of my pass/fail credit with my British Studies LIS classes and my directed research course. However, I still wanted to do a traditional internship (preferably without paying for it as a course) – so essentially, I wanted to intern somewhere that would allow me to do a traditional internship as a volunteer.

I had heard great things about an academic health sciences library in a neighboring city (approximately an hour drive away) – a couple of my classmates enjoyed their internships there, and when I visited there to interview reference librarians for an assignment, I asked them if they’d be willing to host me as an intern in the fall. They said yes, of course, and the rest is history. I have loved my time at this library; yet, I know others who have not gotten as much out of their internships at other places. I thought I would use my excellent experience (and some experiences of classmates) to provide some tips for LIS students seeking a library (or museum, or other institution – for the sake of convenience, I will say library) for their internship or practicum.

First things first: if an internship is not required, DO ONE. There are some exceptions to this. If you’re already working in a library part-time or full-time, you may not need an internship. If you can’t physically fit one in your schedule due to life conflicts, it’s understandable. Otherwise — do it. I can’t stress this enough.

Now for the other tips:

Seek out paid internships if you can, even if you can’t get class credit for them (we can’t). There are a few paid internships/fellowships I wish I had applied for, even if they were a long shot. You can find these advertised on job sites like LibGig and ALA JobList, but also check your school’s listserv, and ask your professors for information about opportunities. If you know of any other great resources, please leave them in the comments!

Whether your school has an internship coordinator or not, do a lot of research on libraries you are interested in interning at. If you’re going to be working somewhere for any length of time, it’s important to know you’ll be happy there.

Talk to your friends, classmates, professors, and network — anyone who may have knowledge about these libraries and their departments. This is part of the research, but it’s a lot more crucial than just looking at a library’s homepage. Without personal recommendations from my classmates, I probably wouldn’t have committed to driving out of town two days a week for an internship – gas money adds up!

If you have an interview for your internship, make sure you ask questions about the library, but more importantly, discuss the kind of projects you’d like to work on, and what kind of projects they have available. A reference internship, for example, should be more than just working at the desk – you should collaborate with librarians on projects like LibGuides, marketing/social media, etc. A young adult or children’s internship would be incredibly beneficial during summer reading. You want to make sure that you will get real, professional experience, and that you won’t just make everyone’s copies all semester.

With that said, keep in mind that you’re not going to always do the most super awesome projects of all time. You may do a couple of projects that seem tedious, but will actually teach you a lot. At my internship, I’ve done at least two projects that librarians would’ve done (they were just on the backburner), and while each had tedious aspects, I’ve learned so much about the library’s catalog and ILS, Excel, medical databases, journals and texts, and so much more. I haven’t worked on a project that I haven’t enjoyed and gained knowledge from.

If this is possible to gauge from the internship interview (or hearsay from your classmates), try to find a library who will integrate you into their culture as much as possible. My library provided me with a free parking pass, a .edu email address and school ID that provided me with database access and Microsoft Outlook access, and my own cubicles (I have two – one for each floor I work on). I get invited to library meetings on my Outlook calendar (and I am invited to attend any meeting I wish), I’ve been the official note-taker at meetings, and I have access to the library’s Sharepoint content management system with all of their internal documents (nothing is a secret there). All this is to say – I feel very ingrained in the work culture of the library, and it has been such a positive, empowering experience. I want that for every LIS student!

Finally, keep in mind that an internship is a big time commitment. You won’t have to work on your internship outside of your time at the institution (unless you’re doing something from a distance), but you also won’t have that time to do your own work. At UA, internships are 150 hours, which roughly translates to 10 hours a week. It doesn’t sound like a lot until you completely block out that time from your schedule! I’ve been doing 12 hours a week, plus 4 hours of travel time for the week total. It has been rough on my schedule, but very worth it.

This internship has been wonderful, and I will definitely let my supervisors know how I felt. They assigned me projects that would build my skillset, they integrated me into their culture, and they have at every turn have checked in to make sure I’m having a positive experience. I feel that every LIS student should have this kind of experience, and I hope that if you are a librarian/information professional who hosts interns or LIS student volunteers at your library, you will keep in mind how much it means to us when you take the time to be a mentor. We will remember it and pay it forward! I can’t wait for the day I can host interns or be a mentor to someone.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! I know I’ve left a lot out. And if you’re a professional, I’d love to hear about some of the work you’re doing as a mentor. What are you doing to provide future librarians with a great experience?

This post is about a week overdue, but I have really been going nonstop lately! I wanted to write about my experience at this conference by listing what I liked about the conference, a few take-aways, and some advice for library school students. I don’t plan to recap, since MSU librarians have done that beautifully on the conference blog. There is also a great conference recap at Technolust & Loathing.

The MSU Emerging Technologies Summit was a one-day conference (September 17, 2010) focused on “the effects of emerging technologies in a post-2.0 world. Now that academic libraries have adopted social networking, mobile technologies, and social research tools, where do we go from here? What sort of assessment of these programs is available or appropriate? How have these emerging technologies been incorporated into academia, and what are the ramifications of their adoption?”

This excellent premise, coupled with the fact that Starkville is only 90 miles away from Tuscaloosa, prompted my co-presenters and I to submit a revised version of our Alabama Library Association conference poster to the MSU summit. The poster session was from 8:15-9:15, the first item on the conference agenda, and we think it was a success! We gave away all 50 of our handouts and received a lot of great feedback. If you’re interested, the poster is “The Web Beyond Google: Innovative Search Tools and Their Implications for Reference Service,” and you can view our poster here and download the handout here. The other poster sessions were great, too, even though we didn’t get to spend much time talking/looking since we needed to be with our poster.

Favorite things about the conference (besides the sessions, all of which were great):

It was local, and only a day long, so I didn’t become exhausted and burned out from 3-7 days of an overwhelming conference in a new city. It was also on a Friday, so it didn’t interfere with my schedule too much.

The keynote speaker was Jason Griffey! You can viewhis slides here and read a recap of his talk on the conference blog. I got to meet/talk to him, and as you’d expect, he’s super nice, very smart, and an eloquent, entertaining speaker.

Most of the sessions were liveblogged by an MSU librarian. Also, each session was recorded into a podcast, and will be available on the website soon. I think these are excellent ways to disseminate ideas with those who couldn’t make it, or those who were there and had to miss great sessions (I’m looking forward to catching up on what I missed).

There was a wrap-up session at the end of the conference where people discussed things they had learned. It was a nice refresher, and it was interesting to hear what others were taking away from the conference. This is also on the conference blog.

A few take-away thoughts:

From Jason Griffey’s keynote: The internet removes the middleman between creation and consumer – and libraries are the middleman. Mobile is the future. We cannot compete with Bittorrent. Essentially, we have to rethink how we serve our patrons, and we have to be ready to embrace technologies and be innovative with them. We cannot be late adopters.

From Ellen Hampton Filgo’s “Embedded by Hashtag”: Twitter is a great tool for embedding a librarian into a class. Students thought of her as “their” librarian, she provided instant research help and information, and the students learned to really use Twitter. The best practices are really worth reading – I love this idea, and would love to be someone’s embedded Twitter librarian!

From Lisa Campbell’s “Web Mashups meet Freshman Instruction”: We can do a lot more with LibGuides, and less text is more. We need to make them more visually appealing while still providing important information. Embedding widgets and other tools can be incredibly useful. Everything I know about LibGuides I’ve learned from working with Lisa at Gorgas Library, and this presentation did not disappoint (I can’t find a blog summary of it, though – boo! Some attendees did tweet during it, though).

The wrap-up session provided food for thought – I really liked the ideas thrown out there, especially that of not being afraid to fail when trying new things, being informed and proactive with vendors, and keeping abreast of non-library statistics.

Advice for library school students:

If you have the chance to attend a local conference, do so! You will meet local (and sometimes not so local) professionals and get to hear great talks. You can do some networking in between sessions or at lunch. MSU also had a networking dinner/drinks event after the conference which I unfortunately could not attend.

A local conference is also the ideal place to present your first poster. All 3 of my posters have been presented at local conferences, and they are a lot less pressure than, say, an ALA poster session. After presenting at two local conferences, I feel more confident about submitting a poster or presentation idea to a larger conference. Even if you never want to work in an academic library and publish for tenure, if you have an idea you’d like to put out there and get feedback on, this is the place. Posters–and the conferences you present them at–are great for professional development, and show initiative on your resume/CV. And a hidden perk: you may get registration and/or free lunch for the conference (we did)!

Try to join in the on the conference conversations on Twitter. The hashtag for this conference was #msuet10, and during the conference I made sure to read tweets from my fellow conference attendees, as well as add some of my own from time to time. Sometimes these tweets just perfectly summarize an idea you liked, or presented the idea in a way you didn’t think of. You can use a Twitter search engine like Topsy to go back and read conference tweets after the fact.

I greatly enjoyed this conference. My only regrets are not being able to attend all of the sessions, and not being able to attend the dinner/drinks after the conference. Did you attend #msuet10? What did you think? Do you have any local conference tips?

Three recent blog posts have stuck with me, mostly because they are writing about the same topic from very different points of view. I wanted to contribute to the discussion because I have both additional information and questions, and I would really like your thoughts and feedback on it all.

Here are some thoughts from a recentClosed Stacks post on ALA’s perpetual “graying profession” statement:

I am offended that ALA is still pumping out these lies. If you’re a potential new librarian researching graduate schools and the American Library Association tells you that job prospects are favorable, why would you not believe them? Librarians give you facts, data. Certainly they wouldn’t lie to you because they have an interest in keeping enrollment up. Well, I guess they would.

“There seems to be a general belief that a school has a moral imperative to let you know the degree they offer you has an oversaturated market and that the job prospects are poor. In fact, library schools are trying to stay open. In further fact, you look like delectable, juicy, tuition dollars.”

She also states:

“Librarianship isn’t the only profession where the number of qualified grads outnumbers the available positions. Speak to any English PhD who received their degree in the past 30 years.”

I read both of these posts carefully, and agreed with points from each. I agree that prospective master’s students should be responsible enough to do their research about the job market. I also agree that library schools and professional associations have an ethical responsibly to NOT LIE to their prospective students/members.

Where I’m having trouble reconciling these thoughts is the burden of knowing the actual number of students currently in library school (the 2009 numbers, anyway). Frankly, since I have nothing to compare it to, I find it pretty devastating.

Closed Stacks says:

Considering that my small program graduated about 50 people last May–there are not enough jobs for even those people. If the 57 ALA accredited programs in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico each graduate–let’s estimate 100 people per year, that’s over 5500 new librarians out there looking for work.

There are not, and will not be 5500 jobs available any time soon.

Unfortunately, I happen to know the real number of students currently in library school – which is about 4 times that. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I am working on the Students section of ALISE Library and Education Science Statistical Report. The report is in the process of being finished, and won’t be published for a couple more months (I’ll let you know when it is, and I will direct you there), but I can say this – the number of library school students (master’s level) last year was approximately 20,000. We have 57 ALA-accredited library schools. This cannot be a normal number of graduate students – right? I don’t have the numbers for English, or any other master’s or PhD programs, but when I started a master’s in English, there were about 20 of us. Most PhD programs accept 3-15 people per year. Does anyone out there have figures for programs like this?

I really just want to know, because numbers like that make me feel betrayed. One school currently has over 2,300 students enrolled. Another has over 1,250, and another has 1,130 (and those are just the top three). All for the ALA accredited MLIS/MLS only. How can they justify this? These schools have good reputations, excellent faculty and adjuncts — and yet I can’t help but wonder what this does to the worth of an MLIS. That has been an especially hot topic on library blogs in the past week, starting with Andy Woodworth’s post. His post involved a completely different issue, but I think inflation of students probably weakens whatever it means to have an MLIS.

Do I think that there a lot of worthy, passionate, intelligent people who deserve to be librarians out there? I really do. Do I know some of those worthy, passionate, intelligent people who have been rejected from some LIS programs? I do indeed. But what does this master’s degree mean? What are the standards? What are the projected outcomes of the program (i.e., what should we be able to accomplish after we finish the program)?

I don’t have answers for these questions. I know that for me, personally, pursuing this MLIS has been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. I’ve been exposed to so many incredible opportunities here, and I have a true passion for what I hope will be my future work. I can’t see myself in any other profession.

Colleen makes a good point when she states, “No, libraries aren’t hiring. No, library work often doesn’t pay well. But you’re perfectly qualified (if you took your courses with an eye more toward being useful than with an eye toward getting out quickly and via the easy route) to deal with knowledge and information management in the corporate setting.”

This is true, and it is a great path for some people to pursue. I know a little something about SLA, and I think I could see myself in a non-traditional library or information job. However, the majority of new library school students do not come to school hoping to become a knowledge manager. They really do want those traditional library jobs. Should someone warn them? Should it be us? I recently helped out again with new student orientation, and we had the biggest incoming class we’ve had in years. I wondered if they knew what they were facing, and if they are invested enough to pursue this career at all costs.

So, to recap a few of my questions:

Is a number of 20,000 library school students in 57 accredited MLIS programs a fair, reasonable number? (and if not, does anyone have statistics from any other master’s or PhD programs where the number of grads far exceeds the number of available jobs?)

Does this number of current library students devalue the MLIS?

Should most new library school students pursue non-traditional information jobs?

Should we, those of us who either have a job or are unemployed and looking, warn new students about the myth of library jobs?

QUICK UPDATE: In case you missed it, here is an excellent link round-up from Librarian by Day of all of the “worth of the MLIS” posts lately! (and while you’re there, don’t forget to check out her So You Want to Be a Librarian post as well)

Hello again, library blogosphere! I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last post. As if my summer wasn’t busy enough, the transition into the new semester has provided me with nonstop activities. Here are some things I’ve been up to (and I will elaborate on a few of them later in time):

working one job, finishing up duties for the other two (I transitioned new students into the CTPD program, and I’m still finalizing the data for the Students section of the ALISE report)

started a 12 hr/wk internship at an academic health science library, with a 4 hr/wk commuting time (as a volunteer, no course credit or pay)

Wow. I’m exhausted just bulleting all of that. And yet, this semester has already been one of the most fulfilling periods in my life thus far. I LOVE everything that I’m doing, but I feel like I’m running on fumes sometimes.

But now is the time to make time for blogging. There have been some great posts circling around out there, things I’ve been dying to comment on, conversations I’ve wanted to join, and hopefully I can make it back here at least once a week (as I originally planned).

I stumbled across the Library Routes Project after discovering Ned Potter‘s awesome blog, and saw an opportunity to reflect on my journey to Libraryland. Why library school? Why now? I’m not a professional yet, but I want to share my story so far (if you keep following this blog, you’ll know how the rest of it turns out!).

The idea is to document either or both of your library roots – how you got into the profession in the first place, and what made you decide to do so – and your library routes – the career path which has taken you to wherever you are today.

On the surface level, it may seem that I was yet another English major who realized that a B.A. in English = unemployable. That’s true, but that’s why I went to graduate school for English — not library science. Okay, I think I need to start from the beginning.

Looking back on it now, I realize that all of the roads I’ve taken have led here, but I haven’t always followed a direct route.

My elementary school librarian, Mrs. Dodd (no relation, except distantly through her husband–I’m from an extremely small town), embodied the stereotypes of librarians — gray hair, glasses, shushing, etc. But she was so sweet and encouraging, and I adored her. I used to tell her that I wanted to be the next librarian after her, another Mrs. Dodd, and she would laugh but also encourage me, telling me she would love that. She challenged me in reading from a very young age — I distinctly remember her asking me (in conjunction with my teacher) to read Helen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of my Life, in 2nd grade. It was a very thick book, but she knew I could handle it. She gave me hundreds of recommendations before she retired. I can’t remember where my love of reading began, but I know where it was nurtured.

My local public library was incredibly small, and I can’t remember any librarians in particular. I never went to any programming. I do remember begging my mom to take me there, and I would check out an average of 10 books a week (in the summer, at least), and return them the next week for more.

In high school, I told my guidance counselor I wanted to be an English teacher or a librarian.

At my community college, I began to work in the Learning Resource Center as a work-study student. I worked there for two years performing a variety of tasks (I was essentially another staff member), and I loved the library and everyone who worked there (and they loved me — I still visit every time I get the chance). However, my love of English grew by taking 6 classes with the best professor I have ever had (still, to this day–hi, Dr. Ramsey!), and so I started to think about becoming an English professor. My supervisor, Mrs. Middleton, still encouraged me to become a librarian, though she assured me that I would be successful no matter what I did.

When I transferred to Mississippi University for Women, I was unable to get a job in the library, and I started tutoring for English and philosophy. It made sense, anyway, since I was on track to become an English professor. I got lots of encouragement from my MUW professors to go to grad school for English, too, and so that was the journey I chose to take. In a sense, I thought I would be letting people down if I didn’t — I got lots of praise for my writing and analytical abilities, and my professors were very positive about my grad school prospects.

I ended up in the English M.A. program at York University in Toronto, Canada (that’s a story for another time), and while I loved my professors, my fellow students, and everything about Toronto, something was missing. I wasn’t passionate about my work. I felt out of place. But one thing did feel right – my research assistantship. I did a lot of work for the director of my program, as well as other professors, and I was constantly searching library databases, perusing the stacks of York University and University of Toronto libraries, and compiling subject bibliographies (on subjects I didn’t even know very well–but I apparently did a really good job). So when I told the director of the program how I felt, and left the program in good standing with the possibility of return, he let me continue my research assistantship for the semester.

I knew that when I left Toronto, I had a plan for my next step. I was going back to where I should’ve gone all along — librarianship. I took quite a large detour, but I would never change the way it happened, or I probably wouldn’t have ended up here, now, with all of the wonderful experiences I’ve had (like the USMBritish Studies Program). I considered applying to many schools, but after my sister had my nephew, I knew I wanted to be close to home for a while; thus began my journey at the University of Alabama.

I have a purpose now — a passion. I’m determined to never again pursue something I think I *should* — I’m pursuing who I am. Every job I apply to may not be the dream job, but if I’m applying, I know that I can see myself there, in that position, making a difference. I’ve never chosen a firm specialization because I don’t want to limit the possibilities. I know there is happiness for me in this profession, and I know that whatever position I end up in, whether it is on the front lines or in an office, whether I have “librarian” in my job title or not, I will be a librarian. I will facilitate access to information, help further research, and promote transliteracy at every turn (even if that’s on my own time).

I’ve heard that your work doesn’t have to define you, but at the very least, I want mine to say something about who I am. I love intellectual freedom, service, organization, promoting literacy and lifelong learning, research, knowledge, outreach, emerging technologies… you get the picture.

So how did you get here? If you’d like to participate, write up a post and link yourself to the wiki – and please feel free to leave your link in the comments. I’d love to hear about your journey to Libraryland!